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EPA Recognizes MA-based Stop&Shop For its Efforts to Conserve Energy and Fight Climate Change

For more information see the following EPA press releases:

EPA Recognizes Stop and Shop and Giant Food; Only Supermarkets Receiving 2007 ENERGY STAR Leaders Recognition

Stop and Shop Enters Partnership to Help Fight Climate Change
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Sign-on to tackle global warming
(from ELM Bulletin
Environmental League of Massachusetts)

The Massachusetts Climate Coalition, of which ELM is a member, is seeking sign-ons to the statement below.

Even if your organization is not focused on climate change issues, here is an opportunity to join others in calling for bold action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in Massachusetts.

The bill referenced below, sponsored by Senator Pacheco, would set a goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions 20% below 1990 levels by 2020 and 80% below 1990 levels by 2050.

Sign-On Statement: Combat Global Warming

Dear Senate President Murray, Speaker DiMasi and Governor Patrick:

Global warming is one of the biggest threats facing our commonwealth. Left unchecked, the changes to our climate caused by emissions of greenhouse gasses into our atmosphere will have profound negative impacts on the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, the United States and all nations of the world.

Massachusetts has the brains, resources and know-how to address this problem ourselves, and in so doing, to develop the technologies and products that the rest of the country, and the rest of the world will need to tackle this global challenge. We have the ability, and the obligation, to lead.

As such, we urge you, as the leaders of the state to take swift action to tackle global warming here in Massachusetts by passing S.B. 2423 The Global Warming Solutions Act, which calls for a strong, science-based cap on greenhouse gas emissions and to call on our leaders in Washington D.C. to follow your lead.

Sincerely

Name: __________________________________________

Ttle: ____________________________________________

Address: ________________________________________

City: ____________________________

State: _____

Zip Code: _________________

Work Phone:_______________

Other Phone:_______________

Email:____________________________________________

Mail to:
SENATE PRESIDENT
THERESE MURRAY

SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE
SALVATORE F. DIMASI

Governor Deval Patrick
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Rural Casinos: Huge Carbon Footprint

If you’d like to get a glimpse of Governor Deval Patrick‘s vision for “destination” casinos, take a virtual trip south of the border to Foxwoods, somewhere in the wilds of southeastern Connecticut.

The location of this mega-gambling parlor – purportedly the world’s largest – doesn’t seem to matter. The official website describes it only as “within easy driving distance from four of the East Coast’s major cities: New York, Boston, Hartford, and Providence.”

We support the governor’s desire to find new ways to boost the Massachusetts economy. But in his headlong rush toward resort casinos as job creators and revenue generators, he seems to be blinded by the glare of sleek hotel towers rising out of verdant New England countryside. He also seems to be forgetting his administration’s recently proclaimed commitment to a very different road map – one that will lead Massachusetts toward urgently needed reductions in the greenhouse gas emissions that are hurtling New England and the world toward climate catastrophe.

Resort casinos, if successful, draw people – lots of people, round the clock and throughout the year.

If Massachusetts sites these mega-resorts in remote locations, a lot more people will be racking up highway miles, giving an unwelcome boost to automobile-generated greenhouse gas emissions – the state’s fastest-growing contributor to global warming. All of this comes at a time when we need to be strengthening our towns and cities rather than promoting sprawl.

Foxwoods, by its own estimate, draws more than 40,000 visitors daily with many, if not most, arriving by car. We can only expect the same, or worse, if the governor’s dream of three resort casinos sited in the open countryside comes true.

The governor has been candid in expressing his “misgivings about a casino in any city.” He asserts that “the whole point is to create a resort destination.” Urban residents have raised valid concerns about social and other impacts of casinos located in their communities. But have the governor’s capable advisers clued him in to the environmental costs of creating miles-from-nowhere mega-magnets?

Patrick’s advisers often speak with passion and determination about the need to promote “smart” growth by bringing new jobs, better public transit, and affordable housing to our cities and towns. They acknowledge the obvious benefits of policies designed to get people out of their cars, reducing greenhouse gas emissions and other forms of air pollution associated with long driving distances. They also espouse smart growth as a way to stem the encroachment of low-density sprawl into the Commonwealth’s dwindling farmland and forested areas, and as a way to keep highway construction and maintenance costs within bounds.

It’s hard to imagine a development scheme more inimical to those worthy goals than the governor’s resort casinos.

Included in Patrick’s casino bill, now before Beacon Hill lawmakers, is a requirement that casinos conform to the Commonwealth’s “sustainable development principles.” Along with environmentally friendly building design and use of renewable energy, casinos are to apply the US Green Building Council’s Neighborhood Development Rating System, which calls for projects to be sited where jobs and services are accessible by foot or public transit.

It’s a mystery how this smart growth standard squares with the governor’s promotion of remotely sited “destination casinos.” The endless stream of cars reaching far into the countryside will ensure that even a “green” casino has a very dirty environmental footprint.

The Patrick administration’s road map for combating climate change – slated for release this spring – must incorporate an earnest and ambitious commitment to smart growth policies.

Ignoring the environmental impacts of remotely sited casinos is an oversight the governor simply cannot afford if he wants to be taken seriously as a leader in the battle against climate change.
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Legislative Action
(from ELM Bulletin
Environmental League of Massachusetts)

Legislation that ELM has worked on for several sessions passed the Senate in September and passed the House this week.  

S. 536, sponsored by Senator Resor, prohibits the sale and use of household cleansers containing phosphorus in concentrations in excess of a trace quantity after July 1, 2010. The only exemptions are for commercial cleansers, such as those used in commercial dishwashing, laundries, medical and surgical cleansing equipment, food and beverage processing equipment, and dairy equipment.

Prior legislation had limited phosphorus content in some soaps and detergents, but not for household automatic dishwasher detergents, which are responsible for up to 30% of the phosphorus that has been going into wastewater treatment plants from domestic sewage, according to the Charles River Watershed Association. This is an important step toward significantly reducing the negative environmental impacts on our water ecosystems.

This bill was amended by the House, but the text of the amendment is not yet posted.
 
Other Bills Reported Favorably

H.833 An Act to Protect the Rivers and Streams of the Commonwealth (Rep. Petersen)

Amends provisions relative to the Massachusetts Water Management Act; directs the Water Resources Commission of the Executive Office of Environmental Affairs and the Department of Environmental Protection to adopt regulations establishing criteria and standards for maintaining instream flows and hydrologic regimes that are protective of natural aquatic life for all rivers and streams in the commonwealth; regulates implementation of criteria and standards.  Attached to S.553.

S. 553 An Act to Establish a Water Resources Conservation Act and Efficiency Program (Sen. Tarr)

Directs the Department of Environmental Management to establish a water conservation and water resources protection program; provides technical and financial assistance to municipalities for the development and implementation of conservation programs, including, but not limited to, installation of water conserving plumbing fixtures, conducting water audits, and development of rate structures and billing procedures which fully incorporate the cost of producing water; authorizes various studies concerning water conservation, drought preparedness and other issues; provides for the establishment of the initial and pilot program in the Ipswich River Watershed.

H. 740 An Act Relative to the Efficient Design, Installation and Operation of Irrigation Systems (Rep. Eldridge)

Mandates the establishment of a certification, licensing or other mechanism to ensure that persons and companies engaged in the irrigation business understand and support the importance of water conservation and a public policy of restricting outdoor water use. Attached to S. 553

Maximizing the efficient use of irrigation water will ensure that we can meet our potable water and fire protection needs in addition to protecting water-dependent organisms and ecosystems.

S. 546 An Act Relative to the Repair, Removal and Replacement of dams  (Sen. Spilka dam legislation), (Sen. Pacheco dam legislation), and S. 533S. 518 (Sen. Moore)

Would transfer responsibility for dam safety to the Department of Public Safety to ensure that all dams in the Commonwealth (over 3,000) are promptly inspected and, where appropriate, repaired or removed.

New bill text not yet available, but we will get it next week.

S. 597 An Act to License Mortgage Loan Originators (Sen. Creem)

Establishing a 0% interest program for the State Revolving Loan Fund for Water and Sewer Projects and establishing 3:1 leveraging for such projects.

Expands the water pollution abatement trust to leverage funds for disbursement to finance projects on the basis of a three-to-one ratio; amends provisions to allow certain financial assistance disbursements to be the financial equivalent of loans made with a zero percent interest rate. 

H. 800 An Act to Protect Farm Viability (Rep. Kulik)

Authorizes and directs MassDevelopment to establish, subject to appropriation, a loan program, for administration with the Commissioner of the Department of Agricultural Resources, to provide loans favorable to farmers and groups of farmers for articulated purposes, such as marketing agricultural products grown in Massachusetts, developing agricultural producer cooperatives, and developing innovative enterprises, for value-added or organically produced agricultural products. Also directs MassDevelopment to utilize arrangements with private lending institutions involving linked deposits, loan guarantees and sharing of administrative costs.

H. 821 An Act to Promote Recycling in the Commonwealth (Rep. Petersen)
 
Directs the Department of Environmental Protection to promulgate regulations to establish recycling program standards of articulated materials for owners and operators of various facilities and multi-unit residential complexes, as defined, and to require said owners and operators to provide information to tenants and occupants regarding programs for the collection and recycling of articulated materials. Also directs the DEP to implement a program to reduce the waste from building construction and demolition. Prohibits siting refuse incinerators or resource recovery facilities in cities or towns unless said siting was in effect before July 1, 2000. Authorizes funding from the General Fund for recycling programs and allocates funds to provide financial incentives for voluntary collection and recycling.

Placed into Study

H. 831 An Act Relative to the Reorganization of the Department of Fisheries, Wildlife and Environmental Law Enforcement  (Rep. Petersen)
 
Expands the authority of the Commissioner of Environmental Management, including control over the Division of Fisheries and Wildlife and the authority to appoint the Director of said division; places said Director under the authority of said Commissioner; repeals the right of the Board of Fisheries and Wildlife to make appointments; grants said Commissioner the authority to appoint the Director of the Bureau of Wildlife Research and Management.
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State Senators Retiring
(from ELM Bulletin
Environmental League of Massachusetts)

Senator Pamela Resor, longtime environmental champion and current chair of the Joint Committee on Environment, Natural Resources and Agriculture, announced recently that she is retiring. We will sorely miss her leadership and wise counsel.

We also learned that Senator Antonioni has announced his retirement from the Senate
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The 2008 Environmental Bond Bill: Good for Massachusetts’ Farmers, Consumers and the Environment

This year, the Legislature will consider a bill that will help Massachusetts’ farmers meet growing consumer demand for fresh, local food, conserve energy and protect water quality, develop alternative energy sources and protect their land for future generations.  The bill—the Environmental Bond—authorizes the Governor to borrow money annually to fund certain programs administered by the Department of Agricultural Resources.  These programs include the Agricultural Preservation Restriction (APR) Program, the Farm Viability Enhancement Program, a new farm energy program and agricultural fair initiative, and the Agricultural Environmental Enhancement program (AEEP).

Take Action: Join the Coalition for the Environmental Bond!!

There are a number of Bond Bills before the Legislature this year.  To underscore the importance of the Environmental Bond, a diverse and growing group of businesses, organizations and municipal boards have joined forces to advocate for its passage through the Coalition for the Environmental Bond.

If you are a member of a town Agricultural Commission or belong to a conservation district, farm group or agricultural trade association, talk to your organization or board about joining the Coalition. An endorsement form can be found at www.envirobond.org.

Why Do We Need An Environmental Bond??

Protecting the Land Base:

The Agriculture Preservation Restriction (APR) Program has permanently protected almost 60,000 acres of the Commonwealth’s 518,000 acres of land in farms.  However, more than 85% of the state’s land in farms remains at risk of development.

The APR program gives farmers a way to finance their retirement and other family needs without having to sell their land for development.  It also provides young farmers with access to affordable farmland—land that would otherwise be out of financial reach.

Encouraging New Farm Business Opportunities:

The Farm Viability Enhancement Program helps Massachusetts’ farmers meet new market opportunities and changing consumer trends.  The program encourages investments in farm businesses and provides grants to farmers to implement business plans in exchange for short-term covenants to keep their land in agriculture. 

The Governor has proposed two important new initiatives for the Environmental Bond.  One would help farmers develop and implement farm energy conservation and efficiency projects as well as on-farm renewable energy projects. Another new initiative would help preserve and rehabilitate agricultural fairgrounds and buildings.  

Improving the Environment:

The Agricultural Environmental Enhancement Program (AEEP) helps farmers institute best management practices that are designed to improve water quality, conserve water or reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Well-managed farms provide valuable environmental benefits.  Land in farms—cropland, pasture, wetlands and woodlands—helps control flooding, reduces the need for expensive water filtration plants, and provides aquifer recharge areas.  Farms offer feeding and breeding areas for local bird populations and stopovers for migrating birds, while providing habitat for many other land and aquatic species.  Farmland can play an important role in carbon sequestration.

Let Your State Legislators Know that the Environmental Bond is Important to You!

Join the Coalition for the Environmental Bond.  For more information, go to www.envirobond.org

Attend Massachusetts Agriculture Day at the Statehouse on March 18th

Contact your state legislators and encourage them to enact an Environmental Bond that supports farms and farming in the Commonwealth.  To find your legislators, go to: www.wheredoivotema.com

THANKS,
Ben Bowell
New England Project Specialist
American Farmland Trust
One Short Street
Northampton, MA 01060
413-586-4593 ext.21 (o)
413-695-8052 (cell)
[email protected]
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Stormwater BMP Performance Webcast Available
(from
Water Headlines for February 11, 2008
Water Water Headlines is a weekly on-line publication that announces publications, policies, and activities of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency‘s Office of Water)

On February 6th, EPA sponsored a webcast on Stormwater Best Management Practices (BMP) Performance featuring nationally known experts. The webcast was recorded and is available on the NPDES website http://www.epa.gov/npdes/training . The webcast introduced EPA’s Urban BMP Performance Tool to over 3900 attendees, and provided detailed information on the state of scientific research into the performance of stormwater BMPs. The instructors discussed a wide variety of factors, including pollutant removal, volume reduction, costs, and many other factors that should be considered when selecting permanent (post-construction) stormwater BMPs. Included was a comparison of three common BMP types (traditional wet and dry ponds and newer Green Infrastructure techniques, such as bioretention). The presenters discussed the advantages of the Green Infrastructure BMPs, particularly their ability to reduce the volume of stormwater discharged to rivers, lakes, and coastal waters.
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Green Transportation Infrastructure
From Water Headlines for February 11, 2008
Water Headlines is a weekly on-line publication that announces publications, policies, and activities of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency‘s Office of Water)

Although EPA does not have a position on the “Green Transportation Infrastructure Research and Technology Transfer Act” (H.R. 5161) EPA supports efforts to raise awareness and stimulate research and action for green infrastructure. The U.S. House of Representatives Science and Technology Subcommittee on Innovation recently approved the legislation last week with an amendment, and will be considered by the full committee next. Subcommittees of the U.S. House of Representatives Transportation and Infrastructure Committee are also considering the legislation.

“The bill recognizes our country can accelerate environmental and transportation progress together,” said Assistant Administrator for Water Benjamin H. Grumbles. “Through our January 2008 Green Infrastructure Strategy and the President’s Executive Order 13423 (Strengthening Federal Energy, Environmental, and Transportation Leadership), EPA and the Department of Transportation are working together to advance common goals and protect watersheds, such as our Green Highways partnership in the Mid-Atlantic region. The growing emphasis on green transportation infrastructure will be key to meeting our ambitious goals for protecting wetlands and managing stormwater.”
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